Consequence
by v-volatile
Summary: TrinityNeo, set directly after the first movie.


1 Neo  
  
Trinity has very cold hands. When I was brought back from annihilating Agent Smith, just after Tank and Morpheus set off the EMP and all was quiet, I could feel her hand on the back of my neck. It was freezing. And all those times when she came to visit me in the Matrix, when they unplugged me, Morpheus always had Trinity do everything that involved contact. When I first woke up from the Construct, she was there, her cool hand on my forehead just before I staggered off and blacked out on the floor.  
  
I forgot the old hands as soon as I kissed her. Looking at Trinity, wearing her 'real world clothes', you'd think you could kick her ass. She looks fragile, ghostly, pale, and wan. The truth is exactly the opposite. Things like that often are.  
  
As soon as I was up, moving, and able to walk, they (Morpheus, Tank and Trinity) started congratulating me. But it was strange to hear such exultation on the cold, quiet, empty ship. It was strange to hear them laugh, see them smile, and feel Trinity hugging me while 4 bodies lay on the deck, covered in thin brown cloth. It was strange hearing Tank happily recount the moment when the other two agents ran in fear, when all I could see was those four bodies and a lone fifth corpse, pushed into a corner and also covered, but done no reverence like the others. It was Cypher's body. Trinity saw me staring at him and she said, with an almost imperceptible hint of retreat in her voice,  
  
"Morpheus? Tank? I think Neo is exhausted. We're going to go to sleep now." I was still staring blankly when she took my hand and led me off the main deck and into the galley.  
  
"Neo. You have to forget that son of a bitch, so I can forget him too. Otherwise we'll never stop thinking about it," She whispered. I read into her statement: Morpheus was not going to bury Cypher, just cast him into the sewer and hope he rots. I agree.  
  
"Thanks, Trinity. That helps. I do need to stop thinking about it, you're right. I am exhausted, though, so let's go to sleep," I said, sighing, knowing no matter how tired I was I still wouldn't fall asleep for a while.  
  
2 Trinity  
  
I can understand why Neo is so zoned. Even lying here next to him, I know he is thinking, probably seeing Mouse's face while he expounded on the fine status of Tasty Wheat the day before we visited the Oracle, or seeing Switch's eyes when Apoc crumpled to the ground. He's probably already figured out why I was staring at him so tearfully just before Tank got Cypher with the charge-gun and the line went dead. But I don't blame him. I'll be seeing things like that too, but in a week or so. When the relief in my system dies down.  
  
But other than the impending grief all four of us face, it's very consoling to see Neo alive. I will eventually fall asleep tonight knowing nothing is going to happen to him, knowing I will feel the steady thud of his heartbeat between my should blades all night, no matter what.  
  
I hope Tank's okay. He's probably up there looking at Dozer right now, wiping his eyes, then turning to see that piece-of-shit Cypher lying on the floor across the room. Morpheus is probably on the computer with Zion, trying to get a scavenging ship to come pick us up. I know we have to go back to fighting, and back to recruiting more humans, but can we just sit here and live for a few days or so? Can I just talk to Neo without the prospect of his death looming at me because he's entering the Matrix for a 'run' tomorrow?  
  
At some point, I probably will be able to just sit and talk to him, to stay in bed all day, to not fight anyone or run away from anyone for a whole 24 hours. It would be nice to see that day.  
  
3  
  
4 Morpheus  
  
I plan to bury Dozer, Switch, Apoc and Mouse next to each other in Zion. If we ever get there. I was talking to Tank late last night, and he said if he convinced our pickup to take us to Zion on a side trip, they would. Most people from Zion know Tank and Dozer. I hope our pickup vessel does.  
  
But aside from that…Tank and I slept for half the morning. Trinity and Neo were up since eight, talking and moving around, but only in their rooms. Should that be singular? Room? Tank says he saw Cypher coming. He felt the change in code just before he brought Cypher back. He tells me,  
  
"I remember asking myself, what is that? I felt something, and I didn't act. Four lives on my hands." I told him it wasn't his fault, it was Cypher's. He didn't believe me. Tank is a good friend- he's observant but not obvious, he's the anchor on the Nebuchadnezzar whenever we go into the Matrix, he's always helping out new recruits, and he's often seen talking to Neo.  
  
Speaking of that, Tank claims he saw Neo and Trinity coming too. He saw how Cypher got the look in his eyes whenever Trinity passed, how he stood next to her while watching Neo spar with me the day before we went to the Oracle, how he sometimes called her by her unofficial nickname, Trin. Tank says he heard Trinity and Cypher talking outside Neo's room after the first day of training. He says,  
  
"You could tell Trinity was laughing at Cypher, just by listening to their conversation. Bald, ugly, lecherous Cypher. She brought Neo dinner, was in love with Neo and was making fun of Cypher on the way out."  
  
Tank's funny…he saw that Trinity was worried sick when the Agents got Neo that first time, that she was always looking at him and smiling a little when they talked. Tank saw her look when we took Neo to the Oracle and he was staring out into the fake world, remarking how he remembered his old life. Trinity is very kind but she rarely smiles. It's an occasion when she does.  
  
5 Tank  
  
"Did you sleep?" Trinity asked me. She was sitting in the galley with Neo, talking to him. They became silent when I walked in. Her words, a simple "did you sleep?" reminded me of the first time I really got to know Neo, the morning of his first day of training. I'd asked him "Did you sleep?" He'd said no. He was sitting next to his bed on the floor, looking haggard and unhappy, much like I felt now.  
  
"No. I was up talking with Morpheus. We got in touch with Zion." I rubbed my face and put some synthetic food in a dish. Breakfast. Ugh. I noticed Trinity had finished eating and was leaning against Neo a little. He was eating, rather unenthusiastically. He was more interested in Trinity than his food.  
  
"I'm so tired. But I've got to stay awake because we need to weld shut that huge open gash in the top of the ship," I said, sort of distractedly. The thought of work was scary at this point. I haven't gotten so little sleep in a long time.  
  
"I'll help. I slept a little. Sorry about Dozer, Tank," Neo said, looking up at me for a moment. When he got up to empty his bowl in the sink, I wiped my eyes and blinked. Trinity shifted, looking at me. She could probably see what I was thinking: A week ago there would have been eight of us eating here. Lunch, at this time of day. We would have laughed at Mouse and smiled at Switch and Apoc, and listened to Morpheus, not bothering to think we might never see five of them again, and grow to hate the fifth one to be dead.  
  
Sure, it's a sad thing. There's almost no one left now, but I guess I'll get over it…eventually. We'll need at least 5 more new recruits and a lot of work for me to forget.  
  
6  
  
7 Trinity  
  
Tank and Morpheus are welding some sheet metal onto a ripped-wide- open part across the room. Neo and I are working on patching up the little cracks.  
  
"Would you have still fallen in love with me if the Oracle hadn't told you would love The One?" Neo asked. Damn, I guess I had that one coming, I thought to myself.  
  
"Yeah…yeah. Oracle or not, you're still beautiful, you're still our savior, I still owe you my life and my future. Oracle or not, Neo, you're still you. Of course I would have been in love," I said, daring to look up. I was greeted with a shining smile, the first real expression of happiness I'd seen for a long time.  
  
"Really? That's flattering. But of course I know in the Matrix I'll always be second to Morpheus," Neo said. He's weird like that. He shrugs off complements as if they don't exist. He could care less about being the best or being the savior of the world, as long as his job gets done right.  
  
8 Morpheus  
  
"You know, Tank, those two look like they're going to take over something if they get any happier. Talk about restorative power," I said, glancing at Trinity and Neo. Neo looked very serious, like he was impersonating someone. Trinity was laughing and grinning, not smiling shyly, just grinning, hugely. It was the first time I ever saw her like that.  
  
"You're right, Morpheus. I never saw Trinity be so ecstatic," Tank mused, levering his welding torch at the last of the crack. His voice came muffled from the plastic face shield he had on. The last time we were this happy (or just pleasantly surprised) was when Neo beat me at kung fu in the sparring program. Tank says everyone was gathered round watching, like we were the entertainment for the crew.  
  
"Hey, Tank. What do you say to heading to Zion?" 


End file.
